Tips & Tactics

Three Outside-the-Box Tips

Buckmasters fan Amy Young sent us three unusual tips that have helped in her hunting career. She definitely thinks outside the box!

Tip One: Local Ingredient Sponges

To make my own natural-scent sponges, I take local ingredients: dirt, leaves and materials from around my stand, then mix with water and strain.

Next, I place the water in a sealable container, along with chunks from multiple sponges.

When I dry my hunting clothes, I pop a wet sponge in the dryer and tumble them. I place the now-dried sponge in my clothes container. This trick keeps my clothes smelling as close to the natural environment around my stand as possible.

The sponges are reusable. Just stick them back in their container with the water made from local ingredients.

Tip Two: Easy Stand Disguising

Don’t throw out that old artificial Christmas tree. If you find a good spot for a treestand but it needs more cover, I’ve found that branches from the old artificial tree are perfect for the job.

Make sure to use the kind with wire branches. These can usually be attached or wrapped around the tree without harming it.

Zip ties are a good way to fasten the branches to stands, stand legs or blind walls.

I like to spray the branches well with scent-killer and UV blocker before the first hunt.

Tip Three: Fruit-scented Hunters

Call me crazy, but instead of using scent-free soap or spray before heading to the stand (like most hunters), I use peach- or apple-scented soaps and lotions. Believe it or not, the deer come right to me!

The first time I tried it was in the 1990s. Several does came directly beneath me, sniffing the air to see where the good smell was coming from. An hour later, a small buck came in and did the same thing. I made the shot and was so proud!

When my dad was helping me with my deer, he smelled the apple lotion and told me not to wear it anymore. For the next three hunts, I saw nothing.

But on the fourth hunt, I decided to try some peach body lotion, and I filled my doe tag after only 45 minutes in the stand. I was on to something!

I’ve had great luck with it ever since, and have since tried other lotions such as Robertson’s maple syrup, persimmon, sorghum and wild mushrooms with success.

– Editor’s Note by Tim H. Martin

I like the way Amy Young is unafraid to experiment with new things and think outside the box. That’s the best way to learn new things about hunting and find what works best for you.

If you have a unique or special tip you’d like to share with Buckmasters fans, please email it to huntingtips@buckmasters.com and, if chosen, we will send you a cap signed by Jackie Bushman, along with a knife!

Read Recent Tip of the Week:•Bowhunting Mentality for Gun Season: If you hang up your bow when gun season rolls around, don’t hang up your bowhunting mentality. This Buckmasters tip contributor tells why...